Bass Fingerlings today

Went carp fishing again out at Offutt Lake late this afternoon. Figured i got plenty of rest after a pretty hectic Wednesday that i would hit the water early this morning but i slept in late. Carp fishing didn't go well yet again. I've tried putting one kernel of corn on a hook and letting it hit the bottom and i've tried putting as many kernels of corn on a hook as possible and nothing. I've tried tossing it out as far as i can and i've brought it in shallow. No luck. But yet i have seen them swimming around close to the surface of the water behaving like they are look for food.

But in any case, i did catch several bass fingerlings today on a jig. They seemed to be more aggressive than the bluegills, and there was a few larger bass that i could make out in the deeper more murky water. Some were slowly swimming along, but would take off rather quickly like they spotted something and chased after it. I figured they might be feeding on the small fingerlings, so i took out a crankbait that matched them (but there was an incident). I don't know how quickly largemouth bass can grow, so i don't know if they were this years spawn or last years. But they seemed to hide under the rocks and hang out around the bluegills that were the same size as them. What they both seemed to bite on was on bright colors in the shade, like yellow, orange and white, but only when it was up near the surface of the water and made little ripples in the water. Most sizes were between 3 - 6", caught about 14 of them.

I'll go catfishing with hotdogs and maybe corn at Halleck Pond Friday morning, that is if i don't have to babysit my 1yo nephew. Really want to test out that filet knife.

As for the incident with the crankbait, i think the guy who spooled the braided line for me on that Shimano reel, did it wrong. I've never had a birdnesting problem with a spinning rod. It will happen during the cast, but not near the bale, but rather towards the end of the rod near the guides. I won't notice it until during the retrieve do i see a big clump of knots that i can't untangle and i have to cut the line and retie everything. With the spool being nearly depleted of braid line, i will more than likely just have it respooled with monofliament.

What brand of braid was it?

Sufix 832 Ghost 10lb

The reason I ask is that not all braids work well on spinning equipment, and some braids work for some and not for others. I have had decent results with both PowerPro and Fireline but in smaller sizes than 10# test on my spinning reels, but a really horrible experience with Nanofil at a very much lighter size. Part of the issue is proper tension on the line as you retrieve it to get best behavior on the spool, especially true with Nanofil. I fish a lot of slack line; so that is a real issue for me, and is one even with my favorite copolymer. You gotta catch loose loops as soon as possible and work them out before they knot up whatever line you use. You are going to get occasional loose loops if you use really light offerings; so it really pays to pay attention to how the line lays on the spool as you are fishing and to work them out as soon as possible before they tangle into a real mess.